Dumping you CFI
 

Is there an easy way of dumping your CFI? It seems like every other week my CFI want to cancel a lesson or two for personal reasons. I'm getting sick of it. The thing is that I really like the school. Have any of you out there dump you CFIs before? If he keeps it up I think I just might dump him.

First off, discuss the issue with your CFI. Tell him that you're tired of cancelled lessons and ask him if he forsees a problem meeting your scheduling needs in the future. It might just be that he had a spat of legitimate reasons for cancelling. If he promises it will get better give him one or two more chances... if it doesn't then don't hesitate to bail out on him.

If you're at a larger flight school, ask to talk with the chief instructor or the manager. Calmly explain why you don't feel that your CFI is meeting your needs and expectations. If they don't offer a solution, suggest the possibility of working with a different CFI.

Take it one step at a time and escalate the issue as you see fit (warn your current CFI, ask to fly with another, leave the flight school). Remember, the flight school charges you for cancellations, it's not fair if you clear your schedule and then have the flight school cancel for unjustified reasons either...

~J

I second what FlyerJosh says. If this were happening at my school, the chief instructor wouldn't stand for it unless the instructor had a valid reason for cancelling. A good flight school will not only rectify this with the instructor, but also try and make the student happy. My school has a weekly meeting with instructors to discuss student load and progress and we all try to work with each other as well as our students regarding technique and ways to present a topic. We try our best to not only work out times, but also find the best fit between student and instructor becuase we all have different personalities and as a result students will have better progress with someone they work well with.

When in doubt, remember that it's your money. By cancelling all the time he may be costing you more in the long run becuase as time lapses between lessons, what you've learned on previous lessons will become a distant memory and you'll spend more time reviewing old info on the next lesson.

When I first started, new to the flying game, I had reservations about my CFI. IF i could do it over, I would have dump him when I started having the reservations, I would have been better off.. Don't hesitate, use your gut on this one. The time and money goes by fast, no need to waste it.

I had the same predicament with my first instructor. He flew King Air's part time and it seemed that flight instructing was not his priority any more. He would have to cancel all the time cause some trip he had to fly for the company. Then came cancelling for personal reasons, again and again. I tried to non-chalantly talk to him but he portrayed the attitude that if I didn't like what he was doing then I could find someone else. No problem with me, I did just that. I went to the Aero Club manager and told him that it just wasn't working out between us and he gladly recommended another instructor I could pick up training with. It was a great move, and I'm glad I made it sooner than later because I did not enjoy the time with my first instructor, cause he was a bit of a lazy a$$.

I dumped my first CFI about four weeks into my private training in a PT 141 school. Best move i ever made. Some people have different learning styles etc... Remember you are paying for the flight training, and YOU are the customer, so do what you need to do to get the job done. Think of it this way: "Lead, Follow or get the hell out of the way"